Hopf Solitons in Helical and Conical Backgrounds of Chiral Magnetic Solids
Abstract
Three-dimensional topological solitons attract a great deal of interest in fields ranging from particle physics to cosmology, but remain experimentally elusive in solid-state magnets. Here we numerically predict magnetic heliknotons, an embodiment of such nonzero-Hopf-index solitons localized in all spatial dimensions while embedded in a helical or conical background of chiral magnets. We describe conditions under which heliknotons emerge as metastable or ground-state localized nonsingular structures with fascinating knots of magnetization field in widely studied materials. We demonstrate magnetic control of three-dimensional spatial positions of such solitons, as well as show how they interact to form moleculelike clusters and possibly even crystalline phases comprising three-dimensional lattices of such solitons with both orientational and positional order. Finally, we discuss both fundamental importance and potential technological utility of magnetic heliknotons.
- Publication:
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Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- July 2020
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2004.10109
- Bibcode:
- 2020PhRvL.125e7201V
- Keywords:
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- Condensed Matter - Materials Science;
- Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
- E-Print:
- Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 057201 (2020)